Maintenance and repairs in common areas

Overview

If you own a flat in a tenement, you usually have a responsibility to help keep 'common areas' in good condition.

Although you may think of a three of four storey granite building when you hear the word 'tenement', a tenement is actually any building with two or more flats on top of each other. This means houses that have been converted into flats, high-rise blocks and modern apartment blocks are all tenements too.

Common areas are any part of your tenement which can be jointly owned by everyone and should be maintained by all owners.

Common areas may include:

stairs and the common close

the entranceways

the roof

the fire escape

the ground the block is built on

any private parking areas

any lifts in the building

gutters and down pipes

the foundations

the external walls

any wall, beam or column that's load-bearing

If you're renting the property, you aren't responsible for the condition of common areas. Either your landlord or a 'property factor' (someone they've hired to keep up with maintenance work) is responsible.